THE JUGGLER AND THE KING

The title of this work was inspired by a book with the same name,”The Juggler and the King”. In the book the wisdom of our great Sages is revealed through a language which shrouds their teachings in legends, parables, riddles and cryptic debates.

The ‘Juggler’ represents the aspect of Man that is constantly throwing one ball after another in the mindless pursuit of pleasure and physical gratification, seeking prestige and honour. For me, personally, he symbolises my own struggle to ‘juggle’ life’s activities and demands in order to achieve balance and serenity.

The figure of the ‘King’ manifests that which is Godly within us, striving to reach higher goals and our true spiritual and physical potential, i.e. controlling the juggler within oneself to bring man to a nobler destiny.

Through the music I have tried to portray these two forces in gentle opposition to one another in a style that is both stately and frivolous.

Towards the end is a quotation from ‘Avinu Malkeinu’ (our Father our King), a prayer for renewal and life. This ‘return’ is portrayed in the music by a ‘return’ to a kind of tonal language.